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Belarusian doctors save child with severe pneumonia using ECMO machine

MINSK, 12 March (BelTA) – A child having a severe pneumonia has been saved with the help of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine. That was the first time in Belarus the ECMO machine helped save a pneumonia patient, Konstantin Drozdovsky, Director of the National Research Center for Pediatric Surgery, told reporters, BelTA has learned.

“On 21 February Minsk Children’s Infectious Diseases Hospital asked us to save a child who had an acute respiratory infection and a viral pneumonia. The patient was in critical condition and was connected to the ECMO machine. The ECMO machine is similar to a  heart-lung by-pass machine. By that time the child hardly breathed and would have died without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation,” Konstantin Drozdovsky said.

This machine pumped and oxygenated the patient's blood for seven days. “When the infection was gone, the child started breathing. Seven days later we disconnected the ECMO machine and in another five days the patient no longer needed pulmonary ventilation. The patient’s body functions were supported for another 5-7 days. At present the child is recovering. The child breathes, eats and feels better. It was the first time such an intervention was done on a 3.5-year old child with a pneumonia that could kill the child. Thus, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation helped save the child’s life,” the doctor said.

This technology became available at the  National Research Center for Pediatric Surgery several years ago. “We have two ECMO machines. In the coming two weeks we will receive another two. These machines were purchased for our hospital by the Healthcare Ministry. This will allow establishing a so-called ECMO center at our clinic. Thus, we will be able to save all children with a severe pneumonia that cannot be treated by other methods,” Konstantin Drozdovsky said.

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